In reply to Cynthia Jane Holloway (msg # 792):

Alexander steps close as well. "Please pardon my proximity. This is most ungentlemanly!" He joked.

In reply to Alexander Hussein Mahfouz (msg # 793):


"Careful. Do hold your breath. Close your eyes and do not breathe in. Do not wipe the powder away nor ingest it in any way."

Everyone who wanted to accompany the mission to the Mosque of ibn Tulun steppedin close. Dr. Khafour poured the mixture into a dust sprayer consisting of a rubber squeeze-ball attached to a funnel. He then squeezed the ball, shooting out a fine black powder with silvery highlights.

OOC: Everyone make an opposed Con check (a percentile roll) and post the results in your reply or the Dice Rolls thread.

The Count did as he was asked and hopped for the best. If it worked it may give them a small edge as long as the enemy did not have better magic ? Was that the correct term...

Count Sigismund Bathony rolled 31 using 1d100 with rolls of 31.  Con check.

JM stood close and held his breath as he shut his eyes.

21:32, Today: John-Marc Falcon rolled 61 using 1d100 with rolls of 61.  Con Check.

Cynthia tries so hard not to sneeze.

The strange powder settled on the groups. It felt both smooth on their skin yet a little gritty and rough. Disturbingly, it almost seemed to be seeping up into their nostrils, eyes and ears, although close examination did not seem to show it was actually flowing or moving across their faces.

It looked a little touch-and-go but nobody sneezed. Jm's eyes watered as he stifled the urge through willpower alone!

Finally, it was done.

In reply to The Keeper (msg # 798):

"Blast! That was deucedly strange and I dare say unsettling. Glad that's over." He shook his head as if to throw the strange powder off, although under close examination it now seemed like it had effectively disappeared and was no longer visible at all.

"God protect us. Now, on to the Mosque. The motor taxi is waiting outside. It was expensive but worth it. We should make it with time to spare."

JM shook his head and snorted a bit as he adjusted to the strange powder.  "Well, that was the oddest sensation.  It felt like the powder seeped into our skin.  I almost burst out in sneezing."  He turned to their host.  "Thank you Doctor, let us hope this truly allows us to recover the real artifact."

He nodded to Alexander and headed toward the door.  "Agreed, the sooner we depart the better."

"I wonder how we'll know if it worked... No matter, we're past such considerations now, I imagine." Cynthia will follow to the car, pausing only to collect her shotgun.

The Count looked to brush what was left of the dust off his suit and then realised it had already disappeared. Collecting his things he follows the others out, hand on one of his revolvers in his pocket.

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This message was last edited by the player at 22:30, Fri 11 May 2018.

JM gives a last check of his weapons as he follows the others to the car.

In reply to John-Marc Falcon (msg # 803):

The investigators climbed into the motor taxi. The driver, an Egyptian wearing a suit (as riding in a motor car was an exclusive service) nodded at Alexander's instructions to drop them off near the ibn Tulun Mosque-cum-asylum.

The journey down wide Cairo boulevards thronged on both sides by travellers and merchants proceeded swiftly. It was dark now, but much of their journey was lit by gas lamps. When they neared the ancient neighborhood of the mosque the lighted areas was far behind them.

They stopped about a couple hundred yards from the side entrance to the mosque. Rickety buildings housing flats over shops were crammed up against the built up onto the massive walls surrounding the mosque. The only lights now were from cooking fires, lamps and lanterns in the warm evening night from the buildings that towered over the narrow lane. While by no means crowded the dark streets did feature Egyptians going about their business with no palpable sense of threat.

Alexander paid off the driver, but persuaded him to stay in the area for a while, as they investigated the fate of the real Girdle of Nitocris. Somewhere along the line it had been switched out for a fake, and likely that had happened here. Perhaps the perpetrator was still lurking about?

Whichever, the side gate was closed but they had been told of the distinctive knock that would allow them entrance.

JM remained alert as they made their way through the streets of Cairo.  He checked his pistol in the darkness of the rear seat of the taxi and when they arrived stepped outside.  He looked around and then walked toward the mosque.  He went up to the side gate and rapped sharply in the pattern they had been given.

Cynthia loiters in the car for the moment. Her shotguns are difficult to conceal, even with the aid of a niqab. Better to wait until the gate is opened before going into public view.

In reply to Cynthia Jane Holloway (msg # 806):

What little light there was came from candles and lamps inside the rickety buildings towering over them on either side. Around them the streets were in deep shadow, it would be difficult to see anything. The group began to alight from the motor taxi. Mohammad, the driver, squatted beside his vehicle, removed his fez and began lighting up his pipe.

JM's knocking did seem to provoke some kind of movement from inside the citadel-like Mosque/asylum. The side gate doors were metal reinforced wood around 4 feet across each and 12 feet high. There were a half-dozen stone steps up to the gate from the street. A clanking and sliding sound could be heard from the other side as a wood bar was withdrawn and the door began to open with a squeal of iron hinges.

An elderly man (as the inhabitants of the asylum were all advanced in years) holding a candle peered out through the gap in the door.

"Who are you?" he asked in Arabic.

Stepping out of the taxi the Count took his time to scan the surrounding area as he walked around behind the car. He waited for the others to alight as he tried to spot if they were being watched. A likely scenario, but he did wonder if the powered could help in that regard.

-

JM replied in accented but understandable Arabic.  "I am John-Marc Falcon.  I and my comrades have been here before.  We respectfully seek audience with Imam Abdullah."

In reply to John-Marc Falcon (msg # 809):

The reply came, "come inside then, as Allah wills it," as the old man started to open the side door wider to admit them.

Suddenly, a deep rumbling sound began deep beneath their feet. Within seconds they could feel the vibration through the soles of their shoes, then their legs. Wood throughout the walls creaked, stones grated and shifted.

There were yells and shrieks of fear from the surrounding buildings! A brick above them became dislodged, along with it fell a pot and both shattered on the paving stones.

"Peace of Allah be upon you," JM replied as he started to pass through the narrow entryway.  When the shaking began he froze for a moment.  The smash of the brick shattering at their feet, shards of stone flying about like shrapnel stirred him to action. "Come on, through the door into the mosque, now!"

The Count tried to steady himself as the "Earthquake" took hold. He made sure he was out of the path of any falling masonry as he waited for the rumbling to stop.

"Did that come from inside ?"

-

The rumbling continued and grew, as the shaking increased. Miraculously, no buildings collapsed, although items and debris continued to rain down into the street and anything not nailed down fell over or moved about. Their driver pitched his fag and hid under the motor taxi in fear. The man JM was talking to curled into a fetal ball at his feet, protecting his head. He repeated, "Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!" over and over.

JM waved to the others.  "Come on!  Whatever it is we need to move."

In reply to John-Marc Falcon (msg # 814):

"Of course, of course." The Count followed John-Marc while making sure the ladies were in front of him as they ran.

-

Cynthia forgets discretion, and grabs her shotgun, checking cartridges are loaded. "The noise is coming from inside. Be ready!"

She sticks close to the group as she passes through the entry into the courtyard.

JM counted to make sure everyone headed inside and then followed his weapon ready.